Anime Why is it so popular here in U.S.A that it's own Animations?

[Souske]

I have alway's wanted to know why anime is so popular in America than it's own Animations? Well of course I am a American and I know Anime is my fave and now a question has came to my mind and I just wanna know why? Is it true that Japanes Anime can get adictive sometimes?I know alot of people that take anime to far and some of my friends has his room too into anime and what ever Anime/Manga he can find he will buy it.

Thank you for your time,
Souske

[Doetje]

Well I can tell you anime CAN be really addictive.

I live in Belgium (Europe) and there's as good as no anime here (besides the kiddie stuff like Pokemon)
If I wanna buy something I have to import, or buy French manga.

But I got to know anime by the fansubbing world, ppl sub Japanese (unlicensed in America) anime in English, and then spread them. I used to watch a lot of TV, movies 'n stuff. But since the day I got to know anime I've spent less and less time in front of the TV, and more and more in front of my pc screen watching anime. It has become my nr 1 hobby and interest, I even import Newtype USA ;)

[Twisted]

Animation made in the US is aimed at children, which results in very shallow storylines.
(Most) Japanese animation has a lot more depth. Those actually make you use your brain.

[Shadow]

Ha ha ha, i can't agree more with Twisted, i can't endure through "most" of the non-Jap Animation. (The square-shaped faces, the horrible storyline, the plot that drags on forever... Ahhh!)

Oh... and Doetje; do you have any good websites about importing Newtype USA or Newtype Japan? TIA.

[tasuki]

I'm just going to play the devil's advocate here (as I love anime and manga), but two of the three qualifiers that Shadow used above could be very easily applied to series such as Dragon Ball and Sailor moon as well, just to name those two... Care to comment?

[Saiyuki]

if your looking for a good place to import anime, manga, or magazines then check this ite out Animenation

tasuki your right some anime like the ones you mentioned can drag on for what it seems like for ever. though i think shadow was refering to cartoons that have no particular story line and are just a bunch of random episodes.

[tasuki]

I know, I know. I was only playing devil's advocate. Although series like Crayon Shin-chan (deliriously funny) falls in the category of random episodes, stories with no point other than the one of the episode, and it's been dragging on for... oh a long time now. So has Meitantei Konan (Detective boy Conan) and Inu-ya sha... My point, as the devil's advocate, was simply that there are Japanese series like that too.

I think that what makes anime so popular in NA (because it has been in Europe for quite some time) is the fact that it fills a need that American cartoons, being aimed at kids, was never able to fill. That is, more mature and intricate stories, nicer character design and development (I mean how stupid can you be to chase the same mouse or bird for goodness knows how many years?), basically bringing together the intricacy of more intellectual comics (still pictures) and movies (moving pictures in a way that Walt Disney and al. failed at utterly for teenage and adult audiences. On top of which, I believe and will continue to believe that there are some things that just can't be recounted other than in animated form...

[Souske]

Here is what I think. I think that American animation is being replaced with a far better Animation and that the Japanese Animation is more Detailed in story as in the way it is drawn and that It will last for a long time. So now American Animation is not going to do anything about it and they will never compete with the good standerd of Jap Anime.

[tasuki]

Mmm. An interesting opinion, but I'll have to disagree with you to some degree. Japanese animation was not always better than American or European animation. You have to remember that Japanese animation was greatly influenced by its American counterpart...

Although Japanese animation making standards are generally higher now than that of American animation, the moguls of American animation are going to do their best to try to cash in on Japanese animation while trying to hinder it from eating on their market shares. For example, the Ghibli-Disney deal guaranteeing Walt Disney the exclusing distribution rights of some Ghibli movies in the States. The promotion was barely adequate and the number of screens showing the Mononoke Hime was a joke. Same for Spirited Away... until it won an oscar... In my opinion, by signing this deal, they were looking for a way to do away with their potentially biggest worldwide rival in the animation market share...

[Souske]

So you are saying is that they are competeting on animations?

[tasuki]

Actually, I'm trying to say that they're doing both--trying to milk the cow and slaughter it for meat at the same time. Besides, I don't think anime is ever going to become mainstream in NA because it just costs to much to buy... I was commenting the other day on another thread that what makes its way to NA, officially and unofficially is only a tenth of what you can find on the shelves of any good video shop...

[Souske]

Oh I don't know how they are going to do that at the same time In general store's like walmart and so on they don't carry any anime. Do you think American Animation is useing jap Animation to make more viewer's to watch that channel like Cartoon network they have toonAnmi and people watch it til it is dark and the anime shows on and they have to watch Kiddy cartoons just to watch anime.

[tasuki]

I understand what you're saying. I think it proves my point--anime nuts sitting in their living rooms soaking up the evening time kiddy cartoon in breathless anticipation of the nighttime anime... But then the interesting anime gets cancelled (i.e. Escaflowne a couple years back)

As for Wal-mart selling anime, yes, but how many different tapes, DVDs? 10? 20? What's the ratio compared to kiddy cartoons? Is it a fair comparision? Can the anime be found with regular movies or with kiddy cartoons?

The fact remains that most of the best stuff is still very hard to find commercially in NA (although I know that's changing). The best stuff can still be gotten through either the Internet or fan subbers at your local anime club. I mean, nobody seems to have heard of Yousei sentou yukikaze in NA yet... Or Witch Hunter Robin, which was an excellent series, or the Ghost in the Shell TV series...

[Souske]

All the anime resources I have been geting in a store called Suncoast that is were they sell all the anime you can get your hands on they also sell Jap snacks and more and they also sell mag's and Other stuff that is were I have been going since I found out about that the store has been selling anime.

[tasuki]

I knew I was in the wrong business... Actually, when I go back to Canada, I'm going to look into doing just that, opening a anime/manga goods store...

[Souske]

Hey if you do make a Anime/Manga Biz let me know maybe you can send me a Magazine of what you sell like a catalog I collect anything lol

[Shadow]

Wow! ha ha, a long discussion....

Well, i agree with Tasuki to some extent that even some Japanese anime have bad qualities. However, in general; I find that Jap-anime are more intersting with a more in-depth storyline, better CG (just look @ how many different studios they have!), more music composers and they all have a more organized plot (as what Saiyuki was saying earlier)...

And Disney, okay; I do like some of their titles and their CG but it's hard to compare since they don't have much anime series (longer than one episode... etc).

Well, there's my take; and let's just say that i'm more interested in japanese-animation...

[Souske]

Cool

[Shadow]

Oh, btw... Tasuki, it's a good idea to open up a manga / anime shop in Canada... (my friends and I also had that idea before) I have been trying desparately to find anime-related stores since the ones in Toronto only has outdated anime, or illegal copies of animation.

I know there's only one huge anime-store in Canada, and that is situated in Vancouver (never been there), here's the link as a reference though: http://www.sakuramedia.com/

ps. i liked Witch Hunter Robin as well, pretty nice storyline, never could've guessed what happened next....

[tasuki]

Turns out I'm still here... I agree with you, Shadow, on the whole, although my opinion is not in synch with yours as far as CGI go... As a rule, I don't really like CGI in animation. But it's a personal preference. I think animation looked better before CGIs...

I think a lot of what you're saying is both part of anime's success with a certain classes of North Americans, but at the same time its curse. North Americans are used to have everything prechewed and diluted for them so that it's neither to difficult to follow or difficult to understand, thus the organised and intricate plots of Japanese animation ensure that it will never become mainstream (if the average NA grows a brain, then it's a different story...). I remember TeleToon (or was it?) in Canada cancelling Escaflowne (a great piece of animation) because it was too "cerebral"...

And along the lines of things being done better in Japan... Japanese voice actors are soooooooo much better than their NA counterparts... I can't stand translations now, they chill my blood... The emotivity is all wrong...

[Souske]

I think I know why it is so popular here

[Shadow]

Ha ha, yes yes.... I can never stand those dubbed anime. I still have to rely on subbed anime since i'm a beginner in Japanese....

I like CGs (if they are done "correctly"), like Full Metal Panic, Macross Zero... etc etc... but I agree with you to some extent since i also like the more traditional cell-shading animation as well..... And Oh! a good example of traditional over modern CG could be the PS2 ZOE (Zone of Enders) series... I liked the 2nd one (cell-shading) much more than the 1st one (CGs)... ha ha ha... seems that i'm shooting myself in the leg....

[Souske]

The reson why this anime thing is so popular here is because of the storylines the CG graphic and the drawing itself

[tasuki]

Mmm... CGIs... When used sparingly and, as you say Shadow, when used well, I think it does go well. But CGI certainly don't define anime. Around 1999, at the beginning of what I like to think as the second renaissance (no link to animatrix...) of anime in NA, there were practically no CGIs... Yet, to bring to discussion to a close, I think we all agree that the stories are what make it interesting to us...

I still haven't gotten around to watching all Full Metal Panic... I'm too wrapped up in Yukikaze and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. ZOE turned me off completely, I just didn't like the story or where it was going. On the other hand I really like a short series called Aquarian Age (based on the card game of the same name), which used CGI fairly well.

[Souske]

This discusion is closed if you got something to say please feel free to write in the board but we might not answer
THIS IS CLOSED